News

Archimedia today announced that HDMI 2.0 outputs are now a standard feature of Atlas 4K/UHD and Atlas Extreme and will be included in all future 4K/UHD and Extreme appliances. Now all media professionals from all facets of the media and entertainment business — from broadcasting to filmmaking, quality control to archiving — can reap the benefits of the long-awaited, new HDMI 2.0 interface through Archimedia's reference appliances.

"Matching the media, the player, and the displays with the most appropriate interfaces is the key to working with 4K and UHD media. All media professionals are thinking about the right ways to use modern displays that aren't SDI-based, so HDMI 2.0 has been highly anticipated," said Josef Marc, Archimedia's chief marketing officer. "HDMI 2.0 was announced around the time of IBC2013, and Archimedia has been watching its availability, quality, and adoption closely ever since. Now we're among the first to make it available so that our customers can benefit from the improved picture quality it offers over HDMI 1.4, especially for 4K cinema and UHD formats."

Now that HDMI 2.0 is included in Atlas 4K/UHD and Atlas Extreme, there is no need for the common practice of using SDI-to-HDMI converters, which represent an additional expense and potential point of failure and also do not support 4K 60p content as Atlas 4K/UHD does. Customers can view up to 4K 60p and UHD 60p content on HDMI 2.0-capable 4K projectors and UHDTVs directly using their HDMI 2.0 inputs, with no conversion necessary.

As a companion to the HDMI 2.0 hardware upgrade, Archimedia is offering a free software upgrade that adds even more power to Atlas 4K/UHD and Atlas Extreme. For example, Atlas now sports a new playlist feature that lets users queue up any number of media files — including video, audio, captions, and subtitles — in any mix of different formats, and Atlas will play them sequentially. This feature is especially useful in theaters and screening rooms where HDMI 2.0 4K projectors and UHDTVs are now a viable, high-quality alternative to costly 4K/UHD SDI projectors.

HDMI 2.0 is now being built into every Archimedia 4K/UHD and Extreme appliance at no extra cost and is available to order now. Archimedia will demonstrate the appliances and their HDMI 2.0 capabilities at the 2015 NAB Show in booth SL11616.